Norm DaPloom - The Frog Who Would Be Prince

The Frog Who Would Be Prince



By Norm DaPloom


Kindle Edition Available



Product Description (from Amazon) 

Did you know that every 60 seconds another prince is turned into a frog? The Prince of Capitol City was in danger of becoming just another statistic when young Tom discovered him croaking on his bedroom windowsill. Now, with a little help from a cranky old dwarf, an overly optimistic dragon, and a wise-cracking library book, Tom must restore His Majesty to mammal-hood, and that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Along the way they’ll face witches, monstriches, the horrifying (but eminently literate) Bookwyrm, and the dastardly pirate captain Dirty Beard Daggert, with his notoriously bad hygiene and his chronically ill parrot, Admiral Petey. They’ll swim through the innards of a giant sea turtle, witness the unbridled ferocity of a traditional Dwarven meal, and explore the tranquil beaches of Insignifica, where the world’s tiniest armed forces don’t take kindly to trespassers. And – who knows? – they may even learn a thing or two about sniggling while they’re at it.

The Frog Who Would Be Prince is a 60,000 word novel designed for middle readers with an interest in humorous fantasy adventure, but its quirky, off-beat humor will inspire a laugh from readers of all ages.

About the Author (from Amazon)

No Author Information Available

O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Kendra


You see that description up there? This book managed to keep that humor throughout the whole book.

This book is another book that just showed up on my kindle for me to read. The title caught my eye, and made me think “FROG PRINCE RETELLING!” instantly. I was not incorrect in my assumption. This was a Frog Prince retelling – and probably the best Frog Prince retelling I have ever read.

The book starts out with Tom trying to find a dragon. He has a small problem, you see, and his grandfather had once told him that dragons are extremely smart and can solve such problems as the one he has.

His small problem, you see, is that the prince at the castle which he works at … is now the frog that he has in his pocket.

Yep, definitely a small problem.

Well, despite that no one he asks even believes that dragons exist, he has, at last found a dragon – and a dwarf as well to throw into the mix. However, while the description describes the dwarf as being cranky, I didn’t exactly remember him being so. It was the book that was cranky. The dwarf was just as optimistic as the dragon.

Unfortunately, the dragon doesn’t know what to do about the prince turning into a frog, and he can’t find anything about it in his collection of books, so they do the logical thing: go to the library.

They go through all sorts of adventures to get to the library, and then they have to get past the bookwyrm to get the book they want. The answer that the book gives is most disheartening: the prince frog must be kissed by a princess – but not just any princess! They must travel north to find a certain princess who is trapped under a spell of sleep.

I loved that part, too. Not only did the book have the Frog Prince – it also had Sleeping Beauty!

In order to find said princess, of course, they’ve got to go on all sorts of adventures, and they take the library book with them – it has a map, you see. When they go past the return date for the book, the book starts talking and complaining and pretty much ordering them to return it to the library.

The ending was magnificent and totally not what I was expecting. I can’t tell you what happened, as it’s the ending – but it totally threw me for a spin. It’s one of those stories that have a false ending. I’ve decided that I like false endings.

This was the sort of book that I spent half the time I was reading it in laughter. Good laugh out loud belly laughter. As soon as I finished it, I flew to my computer to see if he had any other works. Unfortunately, he has none, but if he were to write any more books, I’d read them in a heartbeat.

Let me say this one more time: This book was amazing. I never knew what could possibly happen next, and just when I thought that everything that could happen had, something new would happen and reduce me to a lump of laughter.


Note: This book would be great as a read aloud to children – especially boys.

Genre/Theme: fairy tale adaptation, humor

Reading Level:  CHILD - children's literature, but would be great for anyone who wants to laugh.
Profanity:  NONE - no offensive language
Sexuality:  NONE - not even hinted at. Nothing beyond the princess kissing the top of the frog’s head.
Other: They get captured by dirty pirates, ships get blown up, they almost get burned and poked to death, and they get eaten by a giant sea turtle. Nothing bad, but it can sometimes be a tad bit scary.